Ideology and Population Theory

Abstract

The ideological and ethical foundations of population theory are examined in the light of the supposed ethical neutrality of scientific enquiry. The works of Malthus, Ricardo, and Marx are contrasted and it is shown that their theories of population resulted in each case from the adoption of a particular kind of method-empiricism in Malthus, normative analytic “model building” in Ricardo, and dialectical materialism in Marx. It is shown that a Malthusian or neo-Malthusian view of the population problem is inevitable if enquiry is founded in empiricism or in normative analytics. The well-known disagreement between Malthusian and Marxian viewpoints therefore has its foundation in method. Most modern enquiry into the population-resources problem is dominated by empirical and analytic (including systems theory) approaches and consequently arrives at neo-Malthusian conclusions. The final section analyzes the consequences of adopting a neo-Malthusian view, and it is shown that in a world dominated by an elite, this can frequently bring about the political, social, and economic repression of a non-elite. It is concluded that the choice of scientific method does not produce unbiased results and that the dominance of a certain conception of scientific method leads to the scientific support of a viewpoint used to justify repression of the underprivileged in society.